Future looks bright for Padres in outfield

Center field appears to be organization’s No. 1 position in minor leagues

Mississippi State's Hunter Renfroe holds his head after flying out to left field against UCLA in the fourth inning of Game 2 in their NCAA College World Series baseball finals, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Ted Kirk)
— AP

Mississippi State's Hunter Renfroe holds his head after flying out to left field against UCLA in the fourth inning of Game 2 in their NCAA College World Series baseball finals, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Ted Kirk)
/ AP

The strength seems to be in the outfield. On the flip side, the Padres still have problems developing middle infielders.

The outfielders are divided into two three-player groups — a trio of center fielders who can double as leadoff hitters and three right fielders who have speed, power and strong arms.

Perhaps the deepest position is center field where the Padres are developing three players with similar skills — Reymond Fuentes, Travis Jankowski and Mallex Smith are all left-handed hitters who can fly.

As for right field, Hunter Renfroe, Rymer Liriano and Yeison Asencio give the Padres three corner outfield prospects.

“Given the depth, center field is probably the strong position in the minor leagues,” said Chad MacDonald, the Padres’ assistant general manager of player personnel.

“All three have impact speed and impact defense,”

All three also hit in the leadoff slot at various levels of the Padres’ system.

Fuentes, 22, is 11-for-24 with three steals and nine runs scored in six games with Triple-A Tucson after being promoted from Double-A San Antonio. Acquired by the Padres from Boston in the 2010 trade for Adrian Gonzalez, Fuentes was hitting .316 for the Missions with a .396 on-base percentage and 29 steals.

Jankowski, 44th overall pick in the 2012 draft is also 22. He is hitting .286 with a .357 on-base percentage with high Single-A Lake Elsinore. His 71 steals is also the third-highest total in all of the minor leagues.

Smith, 20, was a fifth-round pick in the 2012 draft. He is hitting .254 with a .357 on-base percentage for low Single-A Fort Wayne. He has 51 steals.

For good measure, throw in Rico Noel who was the Defensive Player of the Year in the Padres’ system. He is hitting .272 with a .363 on-base percentage and 52 steals with Double-A San Antonio.

The Padres, of course, need only one center fielder to develop into a major league player.

As for the right fielders, the Padres are hoping that two will reach the major leagues.

Renfroe was the team’s first-round pick in June and has already advanced from short-season Single-A Eugene to Fort Wayne. He has five homers in his first 120 professional at-bats.

Liriano, 22, is missing this season after having Tommy John surgery last spring. He is expected to play in the Arizona Fall League.

Asencio, 23, is hitting .270 at San Antonio.

“All three profile as right fielders due to their arms, speed and power,” MacDonald said.

As for shortstop, the most advanced prospect in the system is Jace Peterson at Single-A Lake Elsinore (.300), although the top two ceiling shortstops are Franchy Cordero and Josh Van Meter, who are both playing with the Arizona Rookie Padres.

Not so fast

Edinson Volquez’s spot in the Padres’ starting rotation might not be in as much jeopardy as it was a week ago.

Not only did Volquez pitch well against the Mets on Saturday night, the three candidates in Tucson to take his job are coming off bad outings.

Keyvius Sampson allowed five runs on four hits and six walks over five innings Friday. Robbie Erlin has a 5.69 ERA over his last 10 starts while giving up 69 hits in 49 innings. And Burch Smith allowed six runs on 11 hits in four innings of his most recent start.